Improvement in car-couplings



C. DERRICK.

.C'AR-GOUPLING.

Patented Aug.22,1876.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

CHARLES DERRIGK, GENEVA, NEW YORK.

IMPRovEMENT |N- cAR-couPuNes.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 181,253, dated August 22, 1876; application filed February 11,1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES DEREICK, of Geneva, in the county of Ontario and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Gar-Couplings 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being` had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 2 is a plan.

My improvement relates to that class of carcouplings in which the coupling-pin is held elevated by a counter-weight, that is acted upon by the shackle to release the pin, which then drops through the shackle to complete the coupling. v.

A is the draw-head, which may be of ordinary form'. B isthe coupling-pin, which passes through holes a a of the draw-head, and en gages with the corresponding slot b of the shackle C. The shackle is made flat on top, leaving a closed surface, c, in front, on which the end of the pin rides when the shackle has entered themouth of the draw-head, whereby the pin cannot fall till the slot b comes in coincidence, even if vthe hold of the counter-weight is released from it. D is the counter-weight, pivoted at f to a bearing, g. The rear end is formed with a wedge-shaped head, It, constituting the weight proper, which rests across the space or opening of the draw-head, and is retained between guide-lian ges e e, to keep it in place. The bottom h is of inclined form,

.so that when the end of the shackle strikes it passes under the pin and Strikes the weight,

elevating the same, as shown in the dotted lines, thereby releasing the pin and allowing it to fallthrough the slot b when the same l comes in position. This action is accomplished by the employment of the weight and the coupling-pin, without any intermediate parts. When the end of the shackle strikes the weight, the loop or eye i slidesdown upon the coupling-pin, while the latter still remains elevated. vrlhis is necessary, since the movement of the shackle must be sufficient to raise the weight before the slot b comes in line to receive the pin. V No impediment is presented to the raising of the weight, as the eye i has a free range of motion on the pin. On the lother hand, in uncoupling the cars, the shackle has to be moved back from under theweght to allow the weight to fall, and before the shackle can be thus moved back the coupling-pinmust be withdrawn from the slot b. The loose eye i 'in such case allows the coupling-pin to' be drawn up by the chain n, to disengage it, and

when the shackle is withdrawn the weight falls, and the eyet moves up again to hold the pin elevated.

Thus it will be seen that an important feaparts are above and outside of the draw-head,

so that the vdevice can be easily applied to the draw-heads now in use. It is necessary that the counter-weight should be situated in the rear of the coupling-pin, as shown. If located in advance the same arrangement could not be used, but a more complicated construction would be required. The inclined bottom h of the weight insures an easy raising of the same by the shackle and the guid'e-anges e e keep the weight in a true vertical plane, so that there can be no lateral twist that would make the coupling-pin bind in the eye. a

I do not claim, broadly, a pivoted counterweight and pin; but

I claimy The combination, with the counter-weight D, l

provided with the eye m, of a pin, B, resting loosely in the said eye, and retained by a crosshead, k, the whole constructed and arranged so that in coupling the eye can slide down upon the piu, to admit the shackle, and in un' coupling the pin can be raised independently of the counter-weight, as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

C HAELES u DERRICK.

Witnesses:

J oHN S. BRooKIE, JAMES A. GARIsoN. 

